Did you know???

Yesterday afternoon Sir and I went to see The Imitation Game.  I was expecting a war story - full of codes and spies and what not - you know a typical war movie.

What I got was an education in the history of homosexuality.  

I am not sure the movie makers wanted me to come away with the sense of shock and indignation that I had........... It sure wasn't a happy ending movie - or a feel good movie!

I am not going to spoil the movie for anyone who hasn't seen it and intends to... and for those that have no idea what it is about... it is based on the true life story of Alan Turing the man who broke the Enigma code.  

The sub plot (which really became more of the main plot for me) was about Turing being a homosexual.

Did you know that homosexuality (officially called Buggery) was a criminal offense?!
Homosexuality wasn't decriminalized in the UK (where the movie takes place) until 1967!!! In Canada 1968 - and in the States there are still 14 states where it is a criminal offense to commit "buggery" (according to my research) and there are 76 countries, world wide, where it is illegal.

It all just boggles my mind.  It gives me a whole new respect for the homosexual community that "broke the law" to live a life true to themselves.

And where I thought we had come a long way and were fighting for the right of gays to marry - we still have a whole lot of work to do to decriminalize homosexuality.  
   

Updating.......

What an amazing Christmas Sir and I had!!  oh it was a bit quiet  - no kids or grandkids - but we had good friends over both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day so there was a lot of laughter and good conversation.

I was a very spoiled subbie - besides my new fancy dancy camera - I did get a photo editing program.  The picture above is one editing project I managed to do...... (this photo editing is a whole lot more difficult since I used Print Magic or some such program eons ago!)  Are you curious to see what picture I edited to create the above?? It was a still life I did for the photo challenges.............

Yesterday was Sir's birthday - so I got up bright and early (well I always get up bright and early) and had his coffee waiting for him..... and then I treated him to a country fry up - hash browns, bacon, peppers, onions and scrambled eggs all mixed up together...served with cheese bread toasted.  

Then last night I took him out to dinner (method to my madness - that meant I didn't have to cook - cheeky grin)

Today it's back to regular routine for a couple of days - mainly back to the gym.  I gave myself permission to not follow my "healthy eating" routine ...........and am definitely feeling it...... sooooo... back to the gym and my eating routine!

Sunday Sentiments

Post Holiday Update

Well the Christmas rush is over for another year.  I have to admit - I have no post Christmas let down this year (well not yet and hopefully not at all).  

It was very different not being with my kids this year..... and as much as I thought I would miss them terribly ..... having good friends around both on Christmas Eve and Christmas day made a huge difference.  In fact the usual stress of Christmas Day never happened. 

Christmas morning Sir and I sat around the tree and opened our gifts and giggled over some of the doubles (don't ask how two people can get/give double gifts!! Don't get me started on THAT subject - cheeky grin)

As we sat around the dinner table on Christmas night............ 

 there was much good natured teasing and laughter and conversation and I didn't feel any stress.  (Of course my youngest did make a post to facebook that I took as snarky and directed at us - and yes my blood did boil a little bit - but I managed to shake it off)  The clean up was easy - many hands make light work :)

Sir gave me a photo editing program for Christmas which occupied my time yesterday - GOD is it a tough one to learn............ but late in the afternoon I had an unexpected message from my niece ...... saying she was in town with her boyfriend and could they drop by. They brought me a sweet little poinsettia plant ........

I was delighted.  It was such a nice surprise to see her..... and made me feel special.  She and boyfriend had some hints on how to learn the software and I am dying to start working on it - maybe today between loads of laundry



And then - much to my surprise - I had a message from a female Domme here in the area with questions about a New Year's eve party we are all going to........ turns out my Sir has been secretly making plans with them to play with me!!  Just like the old days - can you see me grinning??!! 

Maybe things are turning around a bit and 2015 will be a GREAT year!!

December 25th

May you have a joyful Christmas filled with laughter and love.

May your New Year be blessed with health and happiness.

December 24th

Pooped

As in 

no scat play in this house....

After the last 3 days we are both exhausted - too tired to move........ and definitely too tired to come up with some witty blog entry. 

Just a quickie

We're doing a quick run to Montreal to drop off the gifts for the kids........ long day ahead... 6 hours on the road for a 2 hour visit......... but it's just the way it has to be.

But before we go ... my Monday Morning Report.

We had such a busy weekend.

Saturday we hopped in the car and headed up to Ottawa to drop off gifts with eldest daughter and take her out for lunch........then run back to Kingston to pick up one friend - then to Napanee to pick up another friend - and then on to Trenton for their Christmas munch - followed by a dessert party at another friend's house.  Then retrace our steps and fall into bed around 2am.

Sunday - god how we both would have loved to veg .... but we had free tickets to go to the Home Town Hockey tour.  I don't particularly like hockey - yeah who would believe it growing up in Canada with all the rabid hockey fans !!  BUT I figured it would be a good opportunity to practice my freeze motion shots - and freeze my ass off.

It turned out to be fun!!!  We got all these freebies - including free beaver tails and hot chocolate (and we didn't have to wait for hell to freeze over to get them either)... There were all kinds of folks skating - both in the arena and at the outdoor rink.  There were hockey greats (not one I knew - but then what I know about hockey could be written on the head of a pin)

And it probably did us good to be out in the fresh air for a few hours (I keep telling myself that - seeing as it took me HOURS to warm up when we got home!!)

Here's some shots from the Home Town Hockey tour..........

a figure skater amongst all the hockey hopefuls.... 

attempts at freeze motion shots 

 
and believe it or not two skaters texting!! 

 

There was even a Boston Bruins player?

 
And that was our weekend!

Sunday Sentiments

A Little Christmas Magic

I think I told you folks - but honestly can't remember - I joined a group that offers photographic challenges every two weeks.  The challenge for the next two weeks is Christmas/Seasonal pictures. 

Everyone was posting outside lighting - inside lighting - the usual... in fact pretty much what I was gonna post.  BUT I don't like being a follower (cheeky grin) 

I had a brain wave - well actually two.  

I put some Christmas balls and lights and branches in a tall glass vase ....this was the result...............

And then yesterday while I was finishing off the Christmas baking inspiration hit.  How cool would it be to line up the Christmas Hugs cookies so that the lights of the Christmas tree were in the background (umm hard to explain - easier to show)  

Mission accomplished!!  

And much to my surprise - the leader of this group - who just happens to teach photo-journalism at the University "liked" my contribution!!!

Just thoughts

Over the last little while I have been watching a number of D/s M/s BDSM relationships imploding....both online and in real time.

I have listened to the advice everyone has to give........ and trust me when a relationship - any relationship - is imploding the people with advice come out of the woodwork!

We - subbies or slaves or whatever the hell title you use - tend to take the blame on our shoulders - cause that's what we do best!!  It's our job - after all - to make sure everything runs smoothly and by god when it doesn't it MUST be our fault!

And I have watched the stages we subbies/slaves/whatevers go through - from working doubly hard to fix "it" ....... to throwing up our hands... to crying and ranting... to working harder still ... to resignation.

I was thinking about it all this morning....... mostly because of a vow of yet another subbie/slave/whatever  to work hard to make herself a better slave/subbie.

She will toil and slave and make his life so easy.  She will smile and speak softly and be invisible and magically all the household chores/tasks will be done.  She won't ask for anything.  His life will be perfect.  His life will have no disruptions.  He won't have to think of anything because it will be taken care of before he can even think about it.  All his needs/desires will be satisfied.  

Because in some alternate universe - someone decided that GOOD subs/slaves should not have the right to pleasure.


BUT

In the beginning there were negotiations - and the Dom and sub looked at them - and they were pleased.  In those negotiations were the things the sub/slave could count on - expect even.  In those negotiations there was a list of her needs/wants and maybe even desires.  AND the Dom agreed to that.

Now who died and made the Dom god? huh?? who?  Since when does he decide he isn't going to fulfill his side of the bargain anymore and the sub/slave takes all the blame on her shoulders??!!!

In REAL life, people - if someone doesn't fulfill their end of the contract the contract is null and void.  The wounded party doesn't decide it's all their fault............ 

IF M/s D/s relationships are real - not games that you play - then it's time both parties lived up to their end of the negotiations.  

Pointe Finale!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
and before anyone assumes I am talking about me and Sir - you're wrong - we're working things out.. slowly..... this whole blog consists of rambling thoughts spilling around in my head.

Christmas is coming....

Between Christmas preparations, going to the gym and shopping I just haven't gotten here in a couple of days......... and don't have much to say today either......

BUT I do have some pictures of Christmas around here...

the center of attention of course!!! 

  AND some of my favourite decorations adorning the tree........

and an arty farty shot of some branches/balls and lights in a tall glass vase

 

Christmas baking

And so it begins - the final push towards Christmas. 

I had marked this week as "baking week"  ... I also realized I have not mailed out my Christmas cards!!!  (dear god in heaven what was I thinking??!!)  So today I will write up the few cards I plan on sending and get them into the mail......... and I think I will wrap up some gifts.

We are going up to Ottawa on Saturday to do a "Santa run" to eldest daughter...and on Monday doing a "Santa run" to Montreal to youngest daughter and the kids....... I was so damn organised until I realized Christmas is NEXT week!!  So besides cards - I think I should wrap up some gifts today.

Then maybe I will get some baking squeezed in..............

Yesterday I made some Scottish shortbread...............

and something called Orgasmic Fudge......... it's layered maple fudge.
 First layer is maple fudge - then you cover it with Caramilk bars

and then add a final layer of maple fudge.  They tell you to work fast as the fudge hardens quickly - they weren't kidding!!!  I couldn't spread the top layer nicely..... and landed up buttering my fingers and pressing it down.  

We sampled it last night - after all - we had to make sure it was edible - wouldn't want to serve guests inedible fudge right??? LOL and it was quite good..........though I think I prefer plain maple fudge - forget the chocolate and caramel.

Here we go a caroling

I have said this before and will probably say it again many times......... Kingston always has something going on for the general populace.

They have been advertising a "Carol Trolley Ride through historic Kingston".  We decided with some friends to take the 5pm tour on Saturday evening.

It started off well.  We were greeted by a 'Victorian' caroler........

The Trolley was all decked out in Christmas greenery and fairy lights......

I was excited to get started on the 90 minute tour.  We were handed song books with little lights attached for reading.... and the TV screen you can see in the above picture was actually a karaoke machine - to keep us all on the same page so to speak.

At 5pm sharp - we were told we would wait a few minutes for the late comers.  (who ever heard of a tour being held up for late comers??)  and we sat for 15 minutes.  The driver and the "choir master" spoke for a bit explaining what we could expect ....... ummm... a Carol trolley tour doesn't need much explanation in my mind.

Finally we were off - bouncing along dark roads.  It would seem the citizens of Kingston didn't get the memo about decorating their Victorian homes in sparkling Christmas lights and decorations.  But then it would have been very difficult to view the Light extravaganza at the same time we were all peering at either the karaoke screen or the song book trying to keep up with the carols.  Taking pictures of the few decorated houses was impossible as the trolley was (in my humble opinion) trying to set some record for whizzing up and around the tiny narrow streets of what is historic Kingston

The ninety minute tour turned out to be just under 60 minutes.  My feet were frozen - my bum was sore from bouncing along on the wooden benches... and my neck was stiff from straining to see the karaoke machine

All in all it was an excellent idea - an idea that needs a fair amount of work!!

We went out for dinner afterwards and I managed to shoot a couple of shots on the downtown streets of Kingston .........

 


 

Sunday Sentiments

Christmas Came Early

Yup yuppers YES!!  Christmas came early for me yesterday.

W took me into town and bought me my Christmas present......it was the sort of present I HAD to be there for..... 

I was like a little kid in the car - I couldn't sit still - I had butterflies - and yet I kept telling myself not to get too excited 'cause it might not work out - something might happen to dash my dreams...... 

BUT nothing bad happened........ 

AND

I got my Christmas present................

Yup that's right!! a brand spanking new camera - with more bells and whistles than I ever imagined possible for one lil camera!!

AND it's RED - my most favourite colour in the whole wide world!!  (and now at family events where we all have very similar cameras, when I put mine down I will know which is mine!!)

I spent most of last night reading the manual - trying some of the tricks - taking pics outside without a tripod!!  It has an anti-shake button which allows me more versatility in picture taking than ever before!!!

Here are just a few examples ............

W's Christmas travel mug............. 

Same mug with an arty farty twist 

 
Our Christmas tree.............

Some of my favourite ornaments...........

Outside decorations........

and the day ended with "elfie" sitting on the bed on my pillow holding a Christmas card..... it wasn't the card that made me choke up - it was what was written on it....
on the envelope it said "Littleone" and inside W signed it "Sir" - a huge reminder that despite things "looking" very different around here - I am still His "littleone" and He is still my "Sir"

Santa Claus

When you have been doing Christmas for as many years as I have - you tend to develop collections.

This year I discovered I have a Christmas tree collection - and a Santa collection.  I never set out to create them.. they just happened.  

One year while I was browsing the florist where W used to work I saw this cute lil European style Santa.  I had to have it.  And over the years I have found different Santa's or sleighs in different stores that called to me............ "buy meeeeee.... buy meeee" and I did.  And then before you know it - when you actually open ALL the Christmas boxes and pull everything out - you discover you have a "collection" (Not a collection like my friend C who has 117 Santas out on display - and not one of my Santas can be a "traditional Santa" but still it is my collection)

Here are my Santas and sleighs..........

 this is my latest addition 2014

Christmas Disaster

We are planning on doing a fair amount of entertaining over the holiday season...... Christmas Eve dinner, Christmas day dinner and our annual New Year's Day open house.

After many MANY years of baking/cooking for the holidays - I was looking for some new recipes to add to my repertoire......especially for our New Year's Day bash.  

On Facebook I saw a recipe for pull apart pizza bread...... it looked really yummy........

and I suggested to W that I might make it for the open house. W in all his wisdom suggested I might want to give it a trial run BEFORE the actual party.  In the back of my mind I was thinking what could go wrong... it's sounds simple enough... half dozen ingredients thrown into a Bundt pan cook for 30 - 35 minutes flip out onto a plate - et voila!  pull apart pizza bread with pizza dipping sauce. 

So last night was the big experimentation night.  I stirred everything up in a bowl - greased and greased again my Bundt pan and popped everything in..... threw it in the oven - set the timer and went to watch the evening news while it cooked.

At 30 minutes I pulled it out to test it.. and figured it needed another 5 minutes or so.  I did notice that there was a sloppy ring of icky oil floating around the edge of this pull apart pizza bread...... but I figured I would just drain it before flipping it ........ 

At the 35 minute mark I pulled it out - tested it - figured it was cooked and drained the icky oil off.... ran a knife around the outer edge ..,. flipped the pan over on top of a plate shook slightly ..........

AND...

nothing!

Ran the knife around again... pulling gently to loosen the bread and flipped it again and shook a little harder.  This time I heard a plop ... a splash... and a thud (as some of the greasy bread hit the floor).  I turned the pan over and only about 1/3 of the bread had actually come out of the pan.  I landed up (cursing) spooning the rest of the bread out onto the board...... leaving a goodly amount baked onto the bundt pan.

It looked like this..............

which doesn't even come close to the picture above!!! 

I was still being optimistic - figuring if it tastes good I can figure out a way to make it work by New Year's Day......... and carried to the table.  I pulled my first hunk away from the slop ....

UGH - I hated it..... HATED it !!!  In my opinion there were way too many spices in it... that was about all I could taste........ I had about 3 small hunks and pushed my plate away.  It was disgusting!  

My guests are safe.... no pizza pull apart bread for them!!  I will stick to the tried and true - pigs in a blanket - sausage rolls - meatballs - dips ........ all the usuals.